


Travellers' Tragedies

by lrschatzl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Angst and Humor, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Funny, Multi, Slow Burn, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2020-09-28 20:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrschatzl/pseuds/lrschatzl
Summary: Having lost many loved ones in the great battle of Hogwarts, four friends are sent back into time to stop the dark lord. But can they save everyone without losing themselves?





	1. 0.| Death & Misery

Loey's gaze was locked onto her sister's lifeless hand sticking out from the pile of rubble as the rages of the battlefield were echoing in her ears.   
This was it. They were all dead. Her mother, her brother, and now her sister. Loey had not seen any of her friends in hours, so they might already be dead, too. Her heart stung at the very thought.  
She didn't curse the dead for having passed, but she cursed herself for not being with them. 

With tears burning her cheeks, she grabbed her wand more tightly and sprinted towards the castle. Death Eaters were shooting spells at her, but she did not care enough to deflect them. Loey just ran, ignoring the green lights hitting the walls and ground mere inches next to her.   
The great castle walls she used to call her home lied broken before her, being nothing more than pebbles compared to what they had once been. Loey coughed, the dust making her lungs itch as she entered the castle. How had no spell hit her yet?

Loey's hasty gaze scanned the room. There where so many people fighting before her, but not nearly as many as there had been. Nevertheless, she made her way across the battlefield by hiding behind pillars and deflecting spells. She had no time to attack, only to defend. 

She spotted her friends Ricky and Sarah fighting amidst the other fighters and manoeuvred her way over to them. Loey rushed from pillar to pillar and hid behind each one for as long as necessary until she was hiding behind her friends. They were fighting a deatheater, Loey didn't know which one, but she knew that they were winning.  
In one swift, dangerous move Loey shouted a spell at the deatheater, catching them off guard. It hit them straight in the chest and they slumped to the floor. The young witch quickly pulled her two friends towards her hiding place.

"What's going on?" Shouted Ricky over the sounds of the battlefield.

Loey's breath was ragged. "I have a plan to show you. Meet me in the abandoned classroom in the South Wing. I have to get Müller."

Before her friends could protest, Loey dashed off again. Luckily, the classroom was nearby.

***

Loey dragged Müller into the classroom where their friends were awaiting them. The redhead was wriggling in Loey's arms in an attempt to escape, but she just tightened her grip. 

"What in god's name are you doing?!" Müller shouted, "there is a war going on outside! We need to help!"

The young witch sighed and promptly pushed her friend onto a chair. "I have a plan to prevent all of this."

Despite the dim lighting, Loey recognised the same battered appearance in all of her friends. Sarah's usually cosy sweater had been torn, just barely passing as clothing rather than lumps. Her eyes were hidden behind a mess of blonde curls. Yet, Loey still felt her fleeting gaze on her.

Ricky's long hair stuck to her sweaty forehead and even the cigarette resting in her mouth was crooked. Her shiny leather shoes were covered in dirt, but one foot was still tapping the floor impatiently like it always did.

Müller's hands and arms were so bruised that Loey found it difficult to imagine her fingers gliding over the piano as gracefully as they usually did. Her posture was tense and her glare deathly.

Ricky tilted her head. "Well? What did you call us in here for? What's your plan?"

Loey hesitated, biting her lip. "You are going to call me crazy, which I probably am, but what I am about to tell you is the absolute and entire truth. I can not guarantee that it will work, but it is the only shot we have to... stop this from happening."

Müller huffed. "The only shot we have is to go out there and fight instead of hiding behind desks."

"Let her explain. We have little time and fighting won't get us anywhere," Sarah warned. Müller nodded and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Thank you," said Loey, "I have found a way to travel back in time. Well, I haven't found it - I made it. I made a time machine."

Ricky snorted. "Yeah right." She patted Loey on the shoulder and moved towards the exit. "Good one."

The young witch was quick to grab her friend by the wrist. "Wait. Listen. Please."

The humour in Ricky's gaze faded as she saw Loey's serious expression. "Okay."

Loey let go of Ricky's wrist and rushed to a piece of furniture hidden in a remote corner and covered in a white sheet. Her friends' were eyeing her curiously.   
"I've been spending the past two years making it. Ever since Harry started Dumbledore's Army," She said and added in a sad whisper, "Ever since I knew that there would be a war."

She pulled the sheet down, revealing a silver machine with a platform in its centre. Multiple buttons, switches, and levers decorated the outside of it.  
Loey waved her friends to move closer. "We can use it to travel back in time and take care of You-Know-Who before he became evil. Before he could kill Harry's parents. Before everything." 

Ricky and Sarah inspected the time machine more closely, letting their hands slide over the cold metal.  
Müller moved forwards, but had her arms crossed still. "Even if it works, it's too high a risk. We could make everything worse by completely messing up time." 

"That's true. It's a huge risk, but I'm willing to take it." The determination in Loey's voice contradicted the soft look in her eyes.

The redhead shook her head. "You can't. I won't let you. It's too dangerous, not just for you but for all of us." 

"Have you tested it beforehand?" Asked Sarah before Loey could protest. "To see if it works, you know." 

"I have. I travelled back in time two hours at first, then two weeks, and finally two months. It went well every time," she explained, a grin spreading across her lips.

Ricky walked over to Loey and stood firmly next to her. "I'm with Loey. Let's do it."

"Are you out of your mind? We have too much to lose. You can't do this!" Müller pointed at the machine. "And you don't know if this will work when we want to go back in time numerous years." 

Ricky took out her wand and lit her cigarette with it.

Loey avoided Müller's piercing gaze. "I don't have anything left to lose except you guys." The tears stung the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold them back. "They're all dead. My sister, Fred, mum, fuck even my brother." 

A deathly silence fell over the group of friends. Ricky took the cigarette out of her mouth and slowly wrapped her arms around Loey. She didn't push her away, but she also didn't hug her back.

Sarah took a deep breath. "I'm with Loey as well. We have all lost people we love today and if there is even the slightest chance to bring them back, I'll take it. Even if the odds are against us." 

They were all looking at Müller now. The readhead scoffed, but that turned into an exasperated sigh.   
"You're gonna be the death of me," she said and walked onto the platform.

The three friends smiled and Loey motioned her friends to join Müller, but moved to the main console herself.   
She was pushing various buttons and flicking some switches as she began her explanation, "Okay, we'll try to travel to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's first year at Hogwarts. The first thing we should so is contact Dumbledore, he will have only been the Transfiguration teacher back then, but I've heard that headmaster Dippet was kind of incompetent. Then we'll plan more with his help." 

Loey looked up to her friends and smiled. "Clear?" 

Müller grumbled, "I guess."

"Yeah," said Sarah.

Ricky put out her cigarette by stepping on it. "What?"

"Okay, let's go." Loey pulled a big lever and ran onto the platform. "We need to hold each other by the hand, I think."

And thus the machine slowly disappeared with the four friends.


	2. 1.| back to the... past

The first thing Loey learned of the past was pain. Because she fell. Hard.   
Groaning in pain and propping herself up, Loey wiped dust from her face and checked out her surroundings.   
She was almost completely engulfed into darkness had it not been for a single line of light a few meters away. It looked like the sort of light that shone through the cracks of a door.  
We must still be in the same classroom, thought Loey and grinned. That means it probably worked.

The young witch noticed shuffling and groaning beside her. Her friends must have woken up.

"Where are we?" croaked Ricky.

Loey smirked. "I think you should rather ask when are we."

She didn't see Ricky, but she knew that she was rolling her eyes and smiled. "We're still in the same classroom, just a different time."

Ricky was getting up as Loey felt a sudden pain in her side. "Ouch, watch it, mate."

"Sorry." 

"It's okay. Lumos," said Loey and the room lit up.

Loey had been right; they were still in the same classroom. The only exception was that the time machine had vanished. 

Ricky stared at the spot where the machine had been with wide eyes. "Where is the time machine?"

"It hasn't been built yet, but don't worry. We won't need it." Loey pulled a metal orb out of her pocket and held it up. "This will take us... back to the future. There should be one in your pocket as well." 

Ricky's hand went straight to the pocket of her zip up hoodie and she took out an identical orb. "That's pretty cool. How does it work?"

But before Loey could reply, she was interrupted by Sarah yawning. The short girl propped herself up on one arm and tucked her hair behind her ears.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up at her two friends with heavy eyelids. "Where are we?" 

Once again, Loey was interrupted before she could reply. This time it was Müller who jumped up instantly after waking up.

Her gaze snapped around the room, every sense alert. "What happened? Did it actually work?"

For the third time, Loey didn't get to reply, but this time the interruption was a lot more dangerous.

A creak of the door made all of them turn around and their hearts skipped a beat. There was a boy leaning against the door frame seemingly with ease, but his piercing gaze told a different story. A smirk decorated his sharp features and his sable brown hair matched his green robes perfectly. 

His voice was low and warning. "What are you doing out at this time?"

As the boy stepped closer, Loey noticed his prefect badge shimmering in the little light there was. 

"We were studying and lost track of time," feigned Müller as if it was obvious. 

The boy moved even closer to them, making the hairs on the back of Loey's neck stand up. She frowned and wondered why she reacted to him with such fear. He was just a boy.

"Oh really?" He smirked and let his calculating gaze roam over the girls. "Where are your books then?" 

Müller's glare was venomous and would have made Loey quiver, but the boy seemed unfazed. 

Ricky lowered her gaze at him and lied, "We were practicing spells, which we do not need books for."

The boy's and Ricky's glares met, emerald green clashing with sapphire blue. Sarah and Loey were trying their best to hide behind their two friends, because they did not like confrontation and were awful liars.

Suddenly, Loey felt a tug at her mind and she quickly reinforced her mental walls. Her eyes widened in shock, but she masked her expression as fast as possible. The boy was trying to use Legilimency on them. Sarah stirred next to her and the two girls exchanged nervous looks. The four friends had never been more thankful for the Occlumency course they had taken.

"Return to your dormitories." His gaze wandered over Ricky's and Müller's green robes. "I'd hate to take points from my own house." 

Having said that, the boy left the girls in the classroom and strode across the hallway.   
Loey let out a relieved breath and gave her two Slytherin friends a thankful smile. "Thanks, guys." 

"Seeing as we just saw Riddle, I guess your time machine worked," Sarah pointed out and sat down on one of the desks.

"How do you know that that was Riddle?" Asked Müller, nodding towards the door through which he had left. Her composed posture made Loey straighten her own back. 

Sarah pushed her glasses up at the bridge of her nose. "He was scarier than a normal guy his age and he tried to use Legilimency on us. That sounds like Voldemort."

"Fair enough," interjected Loey, "that would mean that I did something wrong, though. We're supposed to arrive in his first year at Hogwarts." 

"Let's meet Dumbledore then." Ricky shrugged and started walking towards the door. The others followed suit.

Hogwarts was surprisingly unchanged. The hallways were decorated with the same paintings, carpets, and lamps. Even the smell was familiar to the four friends. Yet, despite everything being seemingly the same, something felt different. Maybe it was the general time back then or the fact that different people resided in the castle, but Loey felt a sense of unease as they walked up the staircases. Or maybe, thought Loey and smiled at her own silliness, it was Voldemort's presence. 

It wasn't a long until they reached the old, wooden door leading into the Transfiguration teacher's office, but Loey had had enough time to answer her friends' questions from before the boy had interrupted them. The metallic orbs (or transporties as Loey called them lovingly) were simple to use; you just had to open them by saying the password 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey' and then they would open and reveal a single button to you. This button would take you back to where and when you came from.

But the four friends wouldn't have to use those for a while. For now, all they had to do was talk to Dumbledore.

"Wait. How do we know that Professor Dumbledore has his office in the same place as Professor McGonagall has - will have - hers?" Loey asked just before Müller knocked at the door.

The redhead shrugged and knocked. "We're just going to have to hope for the best."

Not even a second after Müller had knocked, the door swung open and the friends were met by a pair of friendly eyes, hidden behind half moon shaped spectacles.   
Professor Dumbledore looked a lot younger. His hair was still brown, not as white and frizzy as they knew it, and his skin looked less worn. Though, the main difference was noticable in his eyes, because, while they were already sparkling with wisdom and humour, they simply looked younger. 

Nevertheless, Loey's chest swelled with happiness. It was good to see her old headmaster and mentor again, but she knew that she had to hide her joy. It could let him realise his own fate.

Dumbledore's gaze peered over his glasses and travelled over the four girls as the hint of a smile rested on his lips. "And who may you be?"

"We're... travellers, I suppose," answered Loey, "we need your help, Professor. May we come in?"

Without saying a word, the Professor stepped aside and opened the door wider to welcome the girls.

His current office wasn't as nice as the one he would have in the future, but it was just as interesting.   
Rows if bookshelves stretched across the walls and were only interrupted by a shallow basin with a little shelf over it. It was filled a strage pale blue substance that appeared to be a cloudy mixture between gas and liquid. A smile crept on Loey's face as she remembered the basin to Dumbledore's pensieve. The young witch also spotted the phoenix Fawkes sitting next to the large oak desk. Besides that, his office was filled with various magic instruments whose purpose Loey didn't know.

"Please, sit down," said Dumbledore and made four chairs appear at the opposite side of the table. The professor sat down in his chair, folding his hands neatly in front of him.

Ricky and Loey exchanged impressed glances before sitting down with the others. This chair was more comfortable than the ones that they had in classrooms, noted Loey.

Professor Dumbledore didn't say anything with his mouth, but his raised eyebrows and fixed gaze were enough to make Loey start her story. She told him of how they had got here and what their plans were, but refrained from revealing too much of the future. Especially Dumbledore's personal future.  
With every bit of the story that Loey told, his eyes lost more and more of the humorous glint until a heavy seriousness rested upon them. The young witch's heart sunk as she realised that he resembled his older self more then. 

"And now finally I must ask, just to see if it worked: which year are we in?" Loey asked as she finished telling their tale.

The professor smiled sadly. "It's 1943, you're 5 years too late I'm afraid." 

The four friends groaned simultaneously. Loey felt a sharp pang of guilt in her chest and averted her gaze to the floor. The redness of her cheeks and the small tears that stung the corners of her eyes were hidden behind her platinum blonde hair, but everyone knew that they were there anyway. She had failed them. There was no way that they could travel further back without the time machine, even if they returned to the future and then tried to travel back once more: it would be too risky. It was either stay here or go back into battle.

Ricky put a hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. "You still did really well, mate." 

Loey discreetly wiped her tears away and looked at her friends. They were smiling at her, but she saw the disappointment veiled behind their smiles. "I'm sorry."

"Nevertheless, you still have a chance," announced Dumbledore, trying to lighten the mood, "You may not have seven years to change Tom Riddle, but you still have two. He hasn't completely turned towards the darkness yet. There is still hope, it will just be harder."

Müller nodded solemnly. "I might not have been on board from the beginning, but I'm ready to do whatever it takes now that we're here." 

The three girls agreed with Müller, which made Loey feel a little less bad. They could do this.

"I will make arrangements for you to get new dormitories. I shall tell Headmaster Dippet that you've come from Beauxbaton and that the letters must have been lost in the mail." Dumbledore's gaze seemed more grave than Loey had ever seen it. "I trust you to get close to Tom. It should be easier for you Slytherins, but it will be a challenge either way. Do not underestimate Tom Riddle. He is powerful, even at this age."

A gloomy silence fell over the room. Loey shuddered and could swear that the office had suddenly turned colder.

Dumbledore leaned forwards and lowered his voice. "There is a strong possibility that he will try to infect you with his own darkness. Do not let him. Keep the bravery and light that you have within you right now and never lose your true selves as you play his game. Pretend and lie, but stay honest towards your hearts."

Loey swallowed hard and nodded. This had been like a wake-up call, making her mind clear and her heart race. She had known that this mission would be dangerous, but she was only realising its true severity now. Despite the crippling fear gnawing at her mind, the Ravenclaw was willing to face Riddle. Her friends seemed to have similar reactions from what Loey could tell for they all shivered, but none withdrew.

After this, they were to wait in Professor Dumbledore's office as he informed Headmaster Dippet about the situation. Or well, what he wanted him to know of it. They awaited his return in an awkward silence.

Sarah was the first to break it. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm terrified." 

"Samesies," giggled Loey, spread her hand out to Sarah, and started wiggling her fingers. Sarah did the same.

Müller rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight the smile that spread across her lips. "You're dumb." 

"Yeah, but they're kinda cute." Ricky smiled and she walked towards the window. "I need a cigarette."

Loey shot her a worried look. "I don't think that that's a good idea. Dumbledore could return any second."

"Oh well." Ricky shrugged and lit her cigarette. 

Sarah seemed unsure as she pointed out, "I don't think that he'll get angry. It's Dumbledore after all." 

"Also it's the start of the 40s - everyone smoked back then," interjected Müller. 

Thankfully, they didn't have to find out Dumbledore's stand on underage smoking, because Ricky had long finished and performed a charm to mask the smell before the professor returned with Headmaster Dippet.

Loey had only seen Dippet in his painting that decorated the headmaster's office, but he didn't look much different. He was a plump, sturdy man with only white fluff acting as his hair and curious eyes peeking out from behind his monocle. Loey laughed at the sight of him, but quickly put her hand in front of her mouth and masked her amusement with a cough. She laughed, because the man in front of her looked nothing like he did in his painting, which depicted a strong man with long, flowing curls of white hair. Even his facial hair was much thinner than the one in his picture.  
He wore a forest green suit whose buttons seemed to struggle and kept a pocket watch with him. He was almost classy, had it not been for the mistake in size.

"Ah, welcome, students! I congratulate you on being sorted into Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They are both very amicable houses. I didn't even notice that Professor Dumbledore summoned the sorting hat from my office." He grinned at them and transferred his weight to the ball of his foot, making him momentarily appear taller. "My apologies for the entire confusion. We have readied your dorms and hope that you will find your time at Hogwarts to be splendid, despite the rough arrival."

The four girls muttered their thanks and gave him awkward smiles.

Professor Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and tilted his at Dippet, like he was trying to remind him of something. The headmaster didn't notice, though, and just beamed at his new students.

"We have also asked your houses' prefects, Tom Riddle and Margaret Davies, to show you around the castle tomorrow. You will receive your timetables tomorrow and I have arranged for you to be escorted by your them to Hogsmeade, so that you can buy some essentials until we find your belongings that got lost in the mail," said Dumbledore, having given up on Dippet. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that only the students noticed.

The short headmaster nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, yes. Thank you, Albus."

The four students were shown to their dormitories, which looked like the ones in their time with the exception that they were a lot emptier.   
The two Slytherins and Ravenclaws each shared a room without anyone else, which suited them quite well. They all liked it quiet.

Loey was wrapped comfortably in her duvet, but couldn't stop the buzzing in her mind or the heaviness in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as she thought about her family and wished to see them again as hard as she could, hoping that the universe might listen. But it didn't. It never did, so Loey just fell asleep with tears staining her pillow.


	3. Hogsmeade

Arthur C. Doyle had not wanted to be remembered for his infamous creation of Sherlock Holmes, yet this is all people knew him for.  
Loey, on the other hand, did not want to be accompanied by young Voldemort to a Hogsmeade shopping trip. Neither did any of her friends. But when did life ever grant you the things you desired?  
The silence and peace almost made up for how early the four friends had been required to get up. It was a Saturday, the busiest day of the week, so they had been told to get an early start. It had not been easy. Especially with the jet lag feel that time travelling brought with it.  
The autumn coloured trees on the hilly Hogwarts grounds could have escaped straight from a Bob Ross painting. Loey frowned. Bob Ross wouldn't even have been born yet. How was she going to get enough rest without his soothing voice lulling her to sleep?  
A brisk breeze hushed through the leaves, knocking the thought right out of Loey's head and giving the friends goosebumps. Except for Müller, who felt too hot even in a shirt.  
"How are you not freezing to death?" mused Loey and tightened her robes.  
The redhead just shrugged. "I might start to if Riddle and whats-her-name take even longer."  
"Margaret Davies," Sarah chimed in helpfully. She was still wearing the sweater from the battle.  
Ricky's voice was high pitched due to evident annoyance as she complained, "Well, Margaret Davies and Riddle are late."  
"They should be here soon." Loey leaned towards Ricky with an amused twinkle in her eyes. "Also keep in mind that we wanna befriend him, so you know, try not to snap at him."  
Ricky's lips shaped into a straight line. "Punctuality is important! Also why can't we just kill him to stop the future from happening?"  
"Shh, they're coming," announced Sarah in a rushed whisper.  
As he emerged from the trees with the other prefect by his side, neither Tom Riddle's pale skin nor his tired expression helped with the fact that he looked more ghostly than human. Loey felt a sudden urge to step away from Riddle.  
The circles under his eyes were almost as dark as his hair and his eyes appeared like they had sunken deeper into his skull, yet his gaze stayed sharp.  
Loey barely paid any attention to the other prefect - her stomach was too busy twisting at the sight of you-know-who. He disgusted her to the very core. And somehow, he looked even more evil in daylight. The one thought racing through her mind over and over again made her skin crawl, he is going to be Voldemort someday. He is going to kill my family if I don't stop it.  
Oh how was she going to befriend him?  
"Good morning," greeted Tom Riddle as the prefects had reached the friends, "I don't believe we have been properly introduced yet. I'm Tom Riddle and this is Margaret Davies."  
His voice was polite, but monotone and his smile was wide, but emotionless. Loey had his nagging feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong. She suppressed it and smiled.  
"I don't believe we have, I'm Loey. These are my friends from Beauxbatons; Ricky, Sarah, and Müller."  
Margaret grinned and pointed into the general direction of Hogsmeade. "Nice to meet you. Shall we?"  
The frail girl's voice was unexpectedly strong and made Loey properly notice her for the first time. Auburn waves engulfed her short Body, but she had attempted to tame them by scattering blue hair clips everwhere. Her tie had been done very tightly and was millimeters away from choking her. She looked neat. Loey couldn't help, but be reminded of Hermione Granger in her first year.  
Their way to Hogsmeade was short, but Loey was mainly staring at Tom Riddle throughout it; not in a good way. Every time she looked at him, her blood froze and her heart started racing. Maybe it was the way he held himself upright, as if he was untouchable or that undertone in his voice that made everything sound like there was more to it.  
Riddle was burried underneath too many layers for Loey to read him or maybe it was all a bluff and his true nature was hidden in plain sight. Loey didn't know. It drove her crazy.  
The young Ravenclaw was relieved once they had put the auburn trees and fields behind them, reaching their destination - Hogsmeade.  
The cobbles of the street felt weird to Loey's feet after having walked on crisp leaves, but the sight of Hogsmeade in 1943 snatched her Attention away. It all looked so odd. Every store was the same at first glance, but the differences became more clear with every look. The first thing that struck Loey was the amount of smoke emitting from not only the chimneys, but also the restaurants and coffee shops. She had forgotten that smoking inside of public places used to be legal. It smelled like it, too.  
As they walked alongside the crooked buildings, Loey also noticed a huge change in the stores and what they offered. 'Honeydukes' was selling sweets she had never even heard of or only seen on her grandmother's shelves, 'the Three Broomsticks' had been replaced with a shabby bar called 'the Wicked Witch' and the little ice cream store was missing entirely with only an abandoned building at its place. Despite it being a muggle-only war, Loey figured that it was still not doing well on Hogsmeade.  
Sarah leant over to Loey and whispered, "It looks so weird."  
Before Loey could reply, Margaret piped up, "I gather by your reactions that you're charmed? I myself am a huge fan of Hogsmeade. It has all you need; sweets, books, and tea!"  
Ricky and Müller stifled their laughs. She was like a travel agent.  
Sarah just nodded and smiled. "It's quite nice. I have never seen anything like it."  
Now it was Loey's turn to suppress a chuckle.  
"Yes well, I suppose we better get to it before Hogsmeade gets busy." Riddle's voice cut through the friendly atmosphere like a knife.  
Their first stop was Gladrags Wizardwear, where the four friends bought the clothes that reminded them the least of their grandparents. It was difficult, to say the least. Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore had hadned them a fair amount of Money for the essentials. He had joked to pay him back in the future.  
As Loey was going through different shirts, she spotted Riddle sitting on the chair next to the entrance with his arms crossed. She was hiding behind the clothing rag, peering at him from between the clothes. Maybe that was little creepy, but he looked suspicious. His lips were shaped into a slight pout that would escape you if you didn't look closely enough and he kept looking at his watch whilst tapping his foot on the floor. Loey smiled and huffed. The dark lord was grumpy.  
Riddle leant forwards and rested his elbows on his thighs, his fingers brushing through his hair as he did so. He looked awfully normal in this moment. Loey was unsure if this upset her more than his usual pretentious demeanour.  
Suddenly, his gaze snapped up from the ground and met Loey's. It chased an icy shiver through her bones. Feeling small and inferior, she looked away and pretended to go through the selection of shirts once again. Dumbledore had not exaggerated - Riddle was intimidating beyond his age and looks.  
With a knot tied in her stomach, Loey decided to look for her friends. She preferred their company over Riddle's. She found the three next to a selection of sweaters.  
Müller was wearing a plain, white shirt with the label still on. "This is fine. I'll just get three of these."  
"It's literally just a white shirt, man," chuckled Ricky, "Don't you wanna buy something else as well?"  
The redhead shrugged. "I don't know much about fashion and stuff."  
"It compliments your eyes," joked Sarah, but her voice was muffled by a pile of Sweaters balanced on her arms. Müller and Ricky laughed, shaking their heads.  
The trio's conversation came to a halt as they spotted Loey.  
"You alright?" asked Sarah.  
Loey nodded. "Yeah, Riddle's just... you know."  
Ricky grinned and lowered her voice. "Surprisingly handsome?"  
"I know, right?" gushed Loey and leant forwards, "like when did he get so ugly? What happened?"  
Sarah put her head next to Ricky's and Loey's, almost dropping her sweaters. "I think he just split his soul one too many times."  
"His skin was Pretty good, though, as Voldemort, I mean," commented Ricky.  
Müller's head popped up between the three friends, her lip quivering as if trying to hold back laughter. "Are you seriously thirsting over Voldemort?"  
"Well, I originally was going to say that I'm scared of him and that I think he's up to something - you know as you are, as a future mass murderer." Loey let out a deep sigh and smiled cheekily. "Anyway, he does have nice cheekbo-"  
"I hate to Interrupt your little chat, but we really must be hurrying up if we want to avoid Hogsmeade's busy hours," bellowed Riddle, making Loey jump.  
The four friends spun around in surprise. Loey's cheeks burned under his gaze. They tried their hardest not to look suspicious and ended up looking even gultier. Riddle raised an eyebrow seemingly nonchalantly, but the glint behind his tired eyes remained, showing that he knew. With another flutter of his ropes, he turned around and left.  
Sarah snickered. "That fucking, dramatic swish of his rope."  
Loey, however, just frowned. "I feel like he has another reason for being in such a hurry. Something is up."  
"He's you-know-who, I think he's always plotting something," remarked Müller and went after Riddle. Ricky followed her, leaving only the two Ravenclaws behind.  
Sarah put her sweaters down and turned towards Loey. "Maybe try not to overthink it. We aren't really here to stop every little thing he does, but to change him. I don't think that we could prevent everything from happening, even if we tried." She gave Loey a tight lipped smile. "So, you know, just try to keep the bigger picture in mind."  
"Yeah, you're probably Right." Loey looked at the floor. "Let's go pay."  
***  
Their next stop was the Three Broomsticks as suggested by Margaret, who was ecstatic to go - despite having been there a million times before. The small restaurant, if you could call it that, appeared like a fixed point in time. It had been spared by the gloom of these times that hung over everything else.  
As soon as Loey entered the room, the smell of butterbeer tickled her nose and her cheeks flushed in the warmth. She raised her voice over the merry chatter. "I missed this."  
"Me too," smiled Müller.  
As they went on to find seats, someone lightly touched Loey's elbow. She shivered under the cold hand, despite wearing a jacket. Turning around, she met Riddle's eyes once again. "I have business to attend to. I will meet you later. Please forgive me for leaving you in this strange town, but I am sure that Margaret will show you around further."  
"Fine, go. I'm kind of relieved anyway. You're creepy and talk unnecessarily posh," was what Loey wanted to say. Then she remembered that her mission was to befriend the prick.  
"Oh, can't that wait? We would love to get to know you better over a butte- drink." The young witch feigned, trying her best to be charming.  
Suspicion arose in his eyes, but he smiled. "I really must go. I will meet you later."  
Loey's gaze followed him for a bit as he was leaving, but then she turned around and started squeezing past people to meet her friends. And Margaret.  
"Tom had to leave, he's got business," huffed Loey and sat down between Sarah and Ricky. They exchanged knowing looks.  
Margaret laughed. "Yeah, he is always busy. He has many friends that he needs to socialise with. He's very popular."  
Müller squinted her eyes at her.  
"What do they get up to? When they hang out, I mean," inquired the redhead.  
Sarah shot her a warning glance as if to say 'be more subtle, mate', but Margaret hadn't noticed anything.  
The head girl sighed dreamily. "Oh, just regular boy stuff."  
"Like?" Blurted Ricky.  
Margaret's nose twitched, but that was the closest she got to being annoyed.  
"Well, uhm, they..." she lowered her voice, "They sometimes meet up in the Forbidden Forest."  
Before Ricky could say anything else, Loey intervened.  
"That's so cool." Loey simpered falsely. "Do you know what they do there?"  
"Well, I don't think I'm meant to tell, but..." Margaret put a strand of hair behind her ear and gave Loey a sheepish smile. "I heard that they practice and invent secret spells."  
Müller rolled her eyes at the girl's antics. Sarah tried not to laugh.  
"Oh wow, they are so talented," squealed Loey.  
Margaret beamed. "I know, right?!"  
After having died a bit more on the inside by gushing about Voldemort, the four friends exited the pub to meet up with Riddle. Quickly enough, they found him right behind the building. Him and his friends were standing in a circle with their hoods up. Green and red sparks were shooting up from their middle. Naturally, the suspicious feeling returned to Loey's stomach.  
"Hey, Tom!" Shouted Margaret and waved. Loey mentally facepalmed herself.  
The group of boys spun around and looked at the girls like deer that had been caught in the headlights. Riddle was the only one maintaining his composure. He stepped forward, the others crowding behind him.  
"Hello, Margaret." He put on a charming smile. "Would you be so kind as to walk up to the castle and prepare the things we need for the Prefect meeting tomorrow? I am so caught up in extra spell work with my friends..."  
Margaret beamed. "Yes of course, Tom!"  
Loey wanted to vomit at the girl's weakness.  
"Thank you." His gaze softened. "I will pay you back, promise."  
The young witch giggled. "That's okay, you don't have to."  
He gave her another, less charming smile and she left. Riddle turned to the four friends as soon as she was out of sight. He stepped dangerously close to Sarah with his wand raised high and daggers shooting from his glare. Her friends immediately reached for their wands, but were stopped by his friends.  
Riddle's wand was right in front of Sarah's eyes. "So, tell me, how do you know occlumency?"  
"Leave her alone," snapped Loey. She pushed Riddle's friend, who was a heavy built boy with a podgy nose and greasy, brown hair, off her.  
Riddle pulled back and straightened his back so that he was towering above Loey. His jaw was tense. "One of you is going to tell me, I don't care who."  
"Why do you want to know?" Loey pushed her cold fears down and made heat rise inside her chest. She held his gaze, refusing to give in.  
Riddle stepped closer and lowered his voice, "I like knowing what kind of people go to my school."  
"Your school?" Huffed Loey.  
Riddle grabbed her arm in a way that would surely leave marks. Loey struggled with no avail. She felt his wet breath on her skin as his lips were next to her cheek.  
He chuckled in her ear. "Yes, my school. You will soon learn how things work around here. I'm the king." He leaned back again. "Now tell me."  
An icy shudder chased down Loey's spine, clearing her mind of any words she could have said. "I- uhm... we.."  
"It's part of the basic training at Beauxbatons," yelled Ricky and pushed the fair haired boy off her, "now leave her be, asshole."  
Riddle's touch on Loey's arm tightened. "Malfoy, put her in place."  
The blonde boy furrowed his eyebrows, but raised his hand at Ricky nevertheless. Müller and Sarah immediately pointed their wands at Malfoy and Loey struggled in Riddle's grip.  
"Don't you touch her," growled Loey.  
Malfoy grinned. "I don't need to. Cru-"  
Before he could finish his spell, Ricky kicked Malfoy in the balls and he bent over in pain.  
"What's going on here?!" Demanded a voice behind them.  
Headmaster Dippet appeared from the shadows of the Three Broomsticks with his fists on his wide hips.  
"Professor," smiled Riddle coyly, "We were just teaching the new duelling spells we learned in our previous charms lesson to our new students, so that they won't feel behind in lessons."  
Professor Dippet relaxed and beamed at Riddle. "Oh, I see! That is very nice of you, Tom. You always were kind to your peers. 10 points to Slytherin!"  
The headmaster left again, but remained within earshot to talk to another student that was nearby.  
Riddle glared at the four friends. "This is not over."  
With a nod of his head, his friends followed him god-knows-where.


	4. 3.| Let's blow shit up

Two days had passed since the four friends had had their feud with Riddle's gang and the groups had not talked to each other again. To the friends, it felt as if the wind had been knocked out of their sails just when it looked like a storm was coming. Even Sarah had not been sleeping; everything felt hopeless.

The time travelers were lounging across the Ravenclaw common room, illuminated only by the soft light coming from the fireplace. It was afternoon, but the rain clouds in the sky blocked out every little bit of sunshine they could have enjoyed. 

Sarah and Ricky were resting on the sofa, whereas Müller and Loey were lying on the night blue carpet right in front of the fire. Müller and Sarah were tossing a ball between each other, which did not bother anyone as the common room was empty (for once).

Loey's head was facing the window, watching the raindrops slide down. "I don't know if I hate or love the fact that the common room still smells the same."

Müller caught the ball Sarah had thrown at her and let it rest in the palm of her hand. "Lucky you, ours smells like a swamp," she grumbled.

Loey laughed and turned her head towards Müller. "I mean, your common room is right underneath the lake. I wanna know how they got rid of the smell eventually, though."

"Yeah, me too. It stinks," deadpanned Ricky. 

Sarah sighed, "I miss my cats." 

"God, me too," exclaimed Loey. 

Ricky frowned. "I miss Caruso's crackhead energy."

"Awe," Loey giggled, "seriously, though, what is it with black cats always being absolute crackheads?"

Müller laughed. "My cat is a ginger and he does the most stupid shit sometimes."

They chatted about their cats for a while, but were soon exposed to their own minds again as the conversation died down. Loey shut her eyes and listened to the rhythmic sound of the ball being thrown and caught. It was not long before the sound was pushed away by unwanted thoughts, which tended to happen a lot recently. Obviously, all she could think about was Riddle. Befriending Riddle. The mission. 

Her mind was stuffed with thoughts of the entire ordeal, leaving barely space for anything else. One Image especially kept crystalizing before her inner eye as clear as day. Yet, Loey did not know why. Why could she not get that glint she saw in Riddle's eyes when they were in the clothing store out of her head? She furrowed her eyebrows. She must have missed something. Loey had this tugging in the very back of her mind, telling her that there was something connected to it. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed to slip her mind just when she was about to grasp it. It was out of her reach, at least for now.

"This question might seem a bit weird, but I gotta ask," began Loey as she sat up. Her friends turned towards her with curious expressions. "Did you notice anything strange about Riddle's... eyes?"

Ricky laughed darkly. "No, I haven't been staring into his eyes in the past two days. I can't even stand to see his face or that of one of his little friends."

Loey rolled her eyes and smiled. "Well, yes, but... I don't know, I guess I just saw something."

"I saw something, I think," Sarah stammered. Her demeanor was serious as he pulled down the sleeves of her sweater. Her friends' attention was on her, their faces tense. She sighed. "There was something... I don't know what it was, but it was scary." 

Loeys heart dropped. She didn't know whether it was the sudden mood that had fallen over them or because she was relieved about not being the only one, but it made her exchange a worried glance with Müller. Ricky remained silent.

Müller put the little ball into her lap and leaned forwards. "Can you describe what you saw?"

"I don't really know. It was kind of like a red light?" She replied, seeming unsure.

Loey jolted up and pointed a finger at Sarah. "That's what I saw as well! Well, kind of."

"And what does that mean?" asked Ricky, still leaning against the backrest comfortably. 

Loey breathed exasperatedly. "That's what I can't quite figure out. I think I read something somewhere... but I don't remember what... or where." 

"Well, that's helpful," smirked Müller. 

Loey chuckled. "Yeah, I thought it was."

Before the four friends could continue their inquiry, the fireplace's flames shot up and spat sparks across the carpet. Müller and Loey bolted away as quickly as they could, but the sparks still hit their arms and faces. Panicking, they started hitting their arms in an attempt to put out the fire. 

Yet, to their surprise, neither of them felt their skin burn as they should. Loey's lungs felt heavy with smoke as she looked at her arm to see that they were just fine. She frowned. But some of the fire had clearly got to her? 

Müller was next to her with an equally confounded face and just as she was about to say something, the fireplace's flames roared up once again. This time, however, a face started to emerge from the flames. 

"Headmaster Dippet?!" exclaimed Müller.

His head turned towards the inside of the fireplace, like he was turning around to look at something. "Yes, Albus, I will let them know right away," he confirmed in his usual cheery manner. If he only knew what one of his brightest students would get up to in the future, thought Loey.

His head spun back, grinning at the four students. As he did so, more sparks erupted from the fireplace and they all jumped back startled. 

"Oh so, I am so sorry if I frightened you," said Headmaster Dippet as he peeked at them from behind his slipping glasses, "I forgot that this form of communication is new to you. It is a Hogwarts-only thing, I believe. Many generations of headmasters before me, they turned the fireplaces in Hogwarts into a portal that only headmasters can use. Isn't it useful?"

More sparks were sent flying across the room, making the friends flinch. Ricky hit her arm repeatedly in order to extinguish the little flame that had appeared on her hoodie.

Headmaster Dippet smiled at her. "Oh yes, do be careful with the sparks. They might not be able to hurt your skin, but they will burn your clothes!" 

Ricky glared daggers at him. 

"Well, did you mean to contact us or should we fetch someone else?" inquired Loey. 

The Professor's eyes widened in excitement. "Ah yes, I almost forgot! The charming Mr Riddle has agreed to tutor you upon Dumbledore's request. "

Loey did not have to look at her friends to know that Ricky and Müller had murderous expressions on their faces and that Sarah was growing as pale as Headless Nick. Loey had to admit that it was a smart move Dumbledore's, but she, too, was not happy about it. She really could think of nicer things to do than listening to Riddle being a condescending arse.

"Now, I have been informed that most of you were excellent students at Beauxbatons, so you might not find this necessary, but their curriculum is still rather different from ours and you will need help catching up in some subjects. It is exceedingly kind of Mr Riddle to help you with this and I am certain that you will get along splendidly. He is most definitely one of our brightest and most social students." Headmaster Dippet's voice began drifting off in the end, his delight about Tom Riddle evident. Ricky looked as if she were about to throw up.

Realizing that the headmaster was not going to add anything, Loey put on a fake smile. "Yes, thank you for this wonderful opportunity. We will make the utmost use of it."

"I am certain that you will, Ms Precious." He grinned and nodded hard enough to make his glasses slip down on the bridge of his nose. "Well, I shall no longer take up your time. Enjoy your free time!"

The four friends mumbled different variations of "you too".

The flames that were shaping his face collapsed in the matter of seconds, leaving the friends to themselves.

Sarah frowned. "That's going to be interesting." 

***

Yet another three days later, the four friends found themselves hunched over one of the tables in Hogwarts's library. Though, it was known to be one of the finest in the country with its extensive collection of books, all either educational or entertaining, the four witches felt neither educated nor entertained. 

In fact, they were mainly uncomfortable or irritated. Of course, the reason for this were not the books or the librarian - it was Riddle. 

Their first tutoring session had already started out badly with the companions coming in two minutes late. Obviously, Riddle had not been pleased. Ricky scrunched up her nose in disgust as she saw him sitting at the table with an air of more authority surrounding him than Headmaster Dippet could ever dream of. Sarah gently nudged her.

Remember that we need to befriend him, hissed Sarah.

Rickys face relaxed, but her gaze remained hard. I would rather not.

To their luck, Riddle did not make a scene. He only held his chin high and threw an annoyed glance at them. Then they commenced their lesson.

"Which subjects do you require tutoring in? Professor Dumbledore wasn't quite clear," asked Riddle with a sly smile. It was obvious how much he was enjoying tutoring the apparently stupid students and simultaneously proving his intelligence.

Sensing that Ricky and Müller were about to retort offended - which was their right, but not their mission - Loey intervened. "We don't quite know ourselves, actually. I think that we could start by figuring out the differences between Hogwarts's curriculum and Beauxbatons's."

"I see, well then let's begin, shall we?" Riddle pointed to the books. The smile had disappeared from his lips, but he still seemed somewhat smug.

At first, he just asked them which topics they had already covered in each subject, but this was already proving itself to be a challenge. 

They could just not mention topics they knew Hogwarts covered, but logically, Beauxbatons would have also already had topics that Hogwarts hadn't yet. That is when Müller came into play. She was by far the most industrious out of the bunch, so she had already studied ahead a bit. Thus, she just brought up those topics every now and then, hoping Riddle would not make any further inquiries on his own about Beauxbatons's Curriculum. Because, quite frankly, none of them had a clue about that school.

Judging by his actions and mannerisms, Riddle bought their lies. Despite that, Dumbledores warnings were echoing in her mind. Do not underestimate Riddle. 

He nodded in acknowledgement and clasped his long, bony fingers together underneath his pale chin. "Hmm, there is obviously a lot of work to be done." 

Arrogant prick, thought Loey. 

"So, I suggest that I will start tutoring you singularly. I will let you know when I'll be seeing each one of you." He announced. Loey noticed how snobbish his voice was.

Loey furrowed her eyebrows. "Surely, if we have a lot to do then it would be more efficient to do it as a group?"

Riddle's upper lip quivered mockingly. "It would be more efficient, yes, but you wouldn't learn much in the end. Do you want me to waste my time?"

The young witch bit back a retort and just flashed him a tight-lipped smile. Following that, Riddle said his goodbyes as he got up and strutted out of the room. 

Sarah turned to Loey with raised eyebrows. "Do you think that that's the real reason why he wants single lessons?"

"No." Loey was watching him walk away, worry written all over her face. "I think that there is more to it."

Müller squared her shoulders and huffed. "We will have to be careful not to raise any suspicion when we spend time with him alone. We won't be able to stop each other from saying something stupid."

"I think that that's exactly what he's hoping for," mumbled Loey.

Ricky leaned back in her seat. "We can do it. We just have to be careful and keep our legilimency up."

Sarah nodded, but frowned nervously. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Loey gave her a reassuring smile and exchanged a look with her, letting her know that she wasn't alone. 

Loey pushed the books aside to make room on the table. "Guys, we need a plan."

"No shit, Sherlock," retorted Müller, "that prick is probably already conspiring against us with two steps ahead."

"Should we really talk about this here?" whispered Sarah, her gaze skimming over the various students that were studying in the library.

Loey laughed. "Whaaat? I thought that this extremely public place was perfect for it."

"Yeah, I just really love not feeling alone when we're plotting Voldemort's demise," added Müller.

Ricky chuckled. "Jokes aside, though, I think I know a place. Remember where I used to smoke in 5th year?"

Ricky was referring to the passage behind the Mirror on the fourth floor, which everyone in the school thought to be blocked. Luckily, this was not true because the Weasley Twins had opened it in their 6th year. 

"But it is probably still closed in this time. Do you remember how to open it?" wondered Sarah.

"I think the twins used Bombarda," replied Ricky.

Loey chuckled. "Oh, great that won't be loud or suspicious at all."

"We could go at night," Ricky suggested.

Müller shook her head. "No, the caretaker and the prefects patrol the fourth floor at night and they would definitely be alarmed by an exploding noise." The redhead got up, ready to act. "Let's do it now."

"In the middle of the day? There will be loads of people," protested Sarah.

Müller smirked. "Not if there is a distraction"

Her gaze locked with Loey's and both grinned. 

"I've connected the minds," said Loey, her mind being flooded with plans.

"You didn't connect shit."

"I've connected them."

***

"Why did we come up with this," vexed Loey.

She was shaking under the weight of a massive gramophone that she carried in her arms. Loey prayed to the gods that she would not stumble and fall.

Walking next to her was Müller. Her wand swishing from one side to the other in a fluent motion, she uttered the same enchantment repeatedly under her breath. Colorful strings flowed out of the tip of her wand and were left hanging in the air. Funnily enough, this had been the first spell the redhead had ever learned as it was often used at her family's birthday parties. Her sister loved it.

Groaning and with heavy breathing, Loey put down the gramophone. "Why did I carry this all the way up here? My back is killing me."

She stretched and put her hands on her lower waist, her face crunching up in pain and annoyance.

"I did offer to carry it for you..."

Loey dismissed her friend with a wave of her hand, still catching her breath. "Strong independent woman and stuff." 

Shaking her head, Müller chuckled and put her wand away.

"Alright," Loey sighed, "We've got the stuff here, now all we gotta do is turn it on and give Ricky and Sarah the call."

Müller nodded solemnly, pulled two black coats out of her pocket, and handed one to Loey. "Yup, here's your disguise." 

"Enlargement spells really come in handy for more than one thing, don't they?" grinned Loey. 

"Gross."

Scanning the area, the two girls hastily put on their disguises. They would not want to be set back in their mission by detention. 

The plan was simple: make as much noise as possible and then run away, so that the others could use bombarda.

Loey exchanged another glance with her friend; she didn't have to ask to know that Müller was ready.

This time, it was Loey who reached for her wand. It was obvious that her hands were shaking a bit when she pointed her wand at the gramophone. She was not used to breaking rules, having always been a good (though lazy) student. Her heartbeat was ringing in her ears. Never had she dreamed of doing something as rebellious as this when she had been head girl back in her time. The young witch took a deep breath. Purposely slowing down her heartbeat to its normal pace, she used a nonverbal spell on the gramophone. 

Vivaldis four seasons started blasting through the speaker at a deafening volume. Loey and Müller flinched and covered their ears almost instinctively. With the classical music ringing through the hallways, the two friends started running towards the nearest classroom. Loey felt the floor sway underneath her feet as a nauseous feeling overcame her that made it difficult to keep running. Maybe she was not cut out for this. Nevertheless, she kept going. 

Loey was certain that she had never set foot into that room during her time at Hogwarts, but this was normal, considering that there were thousands of rooms. Just before entering, Loey shot a small beacon of purple light into the air that only lasted for about a second until it faded to nothing. Now Sarah and Ricky would know what to do.

Müller had already opened the door and pulled her friend with her. The last thing Loey saw before Müller slammed the door shut was an elderly man running towards the scene. Her heart froze. She hoped that he had not noticed them.

***

Sarah and Ricky were leaning against a stone pillar by the windows, covering their ears as best as they could with pained expressions on their faces. Everyone in the crowd that was rushing past them was also clearly suffering from the roaring music, but for some reason, their curiosity was bigger than their pain. Because they were actively trying to get to the source of it.

Soon enough, the hallway was empty and a purple flash appeared in front of the two friends just in time. Ricky smiled. Everything was going according to plan. 

They emerged from their hideout, still covering their ears, and walked towards a large mirror at the opposite end. Judging by the thick layer of dust, it had clearly not been touched in years. To be honest, if the Weasley Twins had not pointed the secret passage out to them, they would have never even noticed the mirror. 

Alright, we gotta be quick, whispered Ricky. The hood of her oversized sweater was casting a shadow over her round features, making them appear sharp and serious. 

Together, they pushed the mirror aside. It was a lot heathier than it seemed, but with a lot of grunting and sweating, they managed to move it. The friends regarded the wall behind the mirror curiously. The outline of an old entrance was clear to see, but the passage was blocked by a neat stone wall. Someone had obviously covered it on purpose. But who?

Sarah stifled her coughs as the dust from the mirror got caught in her lungs and Ricky shot her a warning look, telling her to be quiet. In reply, Sarah just frowned as if to say well, what do you want me to do about it?

Ricky shrugged nonchalantly. She then turned her back to Sarah and let her gaze scan the corridor, ready to alert her friend at any sight of danger. In the meantime, Sarah stepped away from the mirror as well and pulled out her wand. 

Their gazes locked. Ricky nodded. Sarah nodded and pointed her wand at the passage.

Bombarda!

Wait there is someone co-


	5. 4.| the headquarters

Ever since the mere idea of this mission had popped up in Loeys mind, she had known that discretion was key. Not only everything that the four friends had worked for, but also the future of the wizarding world and their entire concept of time was on the line. Going back in time to save Tom Riddle to save the very lives of the people they loved most was already a dangerous quest, so they could not under any circumstances change the history in a negative way. Even so much as risking unplanned detention could potentially endanger their entire plan.

The importance of all of this became even more evident to Loey as she was sitting in the caretakers office, currently receiving detention. 

Had they been only a second faster, the caretaker would not have spotted them. Nevertheless, he had watched them enter the classroom and followed suit, taking them to his office right away. Loey did not know his name, but he seemed kinder than Filch. His face was covered by white hair and a beard that looked more like a cloud than facial hair. This accompanied by a pair of kind, blue eyes made Loey feel more at ease about having been caught. Oddly enough, he had not said a word to them so far. 

He sat the two students down by his desk and motioned for them to stay there. His plump body made the already cramped office look ever smaller. Nothing much had changed in that aspect over time. With one last glance back at them, he left the room. 

Loey's eyes widened as she looked at the desk in front of them and saw a pair of rusty shackles with spikes attached to the inside. Yes, the inside. The side that touches your wrist. She felt queasy at the sight.   
Panicked, her gaze jumped around the room only to find more torturing devices. A whip on one of the shelves. A rack leaning against the wall to their left. A pear of anguish on a three-legged stool in the corner (google it. That shit sounds hilarious, but oh boy). A miniature guillotine on another shelf. A miniature guillotine?!

The young witch cleared her throat nervously. "Eh I think that Professor Dumbledore was the one who banned torture on students when he became headmaster, but dear god please tell me that I am wrong."

She looked at Müller who was digging her nails into the armrest of her chair. This was one of the first times she saw her friend look genuinely terrified and it did not make Loey feel better at all. 

"But the caretaker seemed nice. He wouldn't do that..." Müllers voice trailed of at the end as if her imagination was going to dark places. Her face got drained of colour, making her freckles and red hair stand out even more.

Thankfully, Müller was relieved from her thoughts as the door opened and the caretaker followed by three teachers entered. As soon as her gaze landed on Dumbledore, Loey felt the fear taken off off her like a heavy blanket. Her friends nails let go of her armrest as well and some colour rushed back into her features.

To their confusion, Dumbledore was followed by two other teachers, both of whom were unknown to them.

One of them was an elderly woman with crab-like red skin and short, black hair that stood up into all directions. Her eyebrows were thick and asymmetrical but did little to distract from her knobby nose. Loey felt reminded of a bulldog and though she loved all dogs, she did not welcome the teachers grim expression. 

The other teacher seemed to be the complete opposite. He was a young, handsome man. His brown eyes radiated off a homey warmth from behind the dark curls that fell into his face. He held himself tall. Yet, he did not appear arrogant or condescending. Instead, he had an air of sophistication around him that made genuine respect and admiration rise in Loeys chest. He was dressed smartly in a simple brown suit with elbow patches. When he noticed Loey looking at him, he sent a small smile her way. Loey blushed.

The caretaker, who still had not uttered a word, looked at the teachers and pointed at the two friends. Loey had the feeling that he had already informed the teachers about their mischief.

Dumbledore just nodded and stood himself next to the table, glancing over his halfmoon spectacles at Loey and Müller. 

His eyebrows were raised in a scolding manner, but his eyes remained soft. "Mr Blackwood told me about the commotion you caused on the fourth floor earlier."

He paused, his gaze piercing through them like a knife. Loey nervously shifted in her chair as a wave of guilt and embarrassment overcame her. Dumbledore was clearly waiting for them to explain themselves, but Loey felt too ashamed to say anything.

Luckily, Müller was braver than her. "We are sorry, professor. We just missed the music we used to play at Beauxbatons."

"Nonsense," barked the female teacher and rushed towards them, smashing her fists onto the table.

It was only then that the dim light of a lantern that hung above them shone on her clothes, which were the most peculiar Loey had ever seen. Thin pieces of white leather, which were so long that they brushed the floor, were attached to the black sleeves of her cloak. In addition to that, she wore a purple and blue striped dress underneath, paired with sandals that seemed to have little pompoms on them. The longer she looked at her shoes, Loey noticed that they were slowly changing colour as well. The corners of Loeys mouth turned downwards in disgust. That woman sure was a lot to take in.

Sadly, the teacher had more to say. "They meant to disrupt my lesson! Albus, I told you that these French people can only mean trouble. Mark my words! They will be the downfall of this school if you do not tell Headmaster Dippet to expel them immediately."

"Yes, thank you for your input, professor Scrooge," replied Dumbledore.

This only seemed to anger professor Scrooge more, because she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air only to scream it out again. Loey had not known that her face could get even redder than before, but it did. 

The two friends were grateful when the other teacher spoke before she had the chance to. 

"Mildred." He shot the furious teacher a kind smile, which Loey thought was just an attempt to calm her down. It sort of worked.   
"I am sure that these students meant no particular harm to your lesson, but be assured that they will be punished for their mischief. I am certain that Professor Dumbledore and Mr Blackwood will come up with something adequate, as they always do."

His voice was as soft as honey and managed to even calm down professor Scrooge. Loeys admiration for this man only grew further. She knew that Müller was smirking even without looking at her.

Scrooge exhaled sharply. "Fine, but I do want them punished!"

"Don't worry, they will be," said Dumbledore with a gentle nod towards the door. 

Scrooge nodded firmly, but still shot Müller and Loey a deathly glare. "Now, I must return to my herbology lesson. I can not leave my students alone for too long."

Having said that, she stormed out of the room. Loey and Müller had to suppress their laughter. She was making all this fuss about a herbology lesson?!

The caretaker, Mr Blackwood, had been oddly quiet and Loey wondered if he could talk at all. For now, he was simply standing by his desk from where he observed the situation carefully. Loey was reminded of Santa Claus when she saw Mr Blackwood, except that his clothes looked more like huge rags than a red suit. His attire bore a strong resemblance to Filch's.

The handsome teacher rolled his eyes, causing Loey to let out a chuckle that she quickly tried to cover up with a cough. He grinned at her antics. Meanwhile, Müller watched them and furrowed her eyebrows whilst shaking her head. 

Loey felt tugging on her forehead, as if someone was pulling on a single hair of hers. Recognising the feeling right away, she let down the legilimency walls that protected her mind and let her friend in.

You can be glad that its not illegal to eye-fuck a teacher. Müllers voice echoed in Loeys head, dripping with sarcasm.

She chose not to reply to that but shot her friend a playful glare instead. Müller smirked. 

"If you have quite finished your conversation, Ms Precious and Ms Müller," smiled Dumbledore, "I believe that we still have to clear the matter of punishment."

Müller cleared her throat awkwardly and nodded, whereas Loey just put a strand of her platinum blonde hair behind her ear and blushed. 

Professor Dumbledore motioned towards the young professor with a smile. "I have brought professor Fillman with me, because he will need some help with a plague of Billywigs in one of his charms classrooms."

"I could do that!" exclaimed Loey a bit too eagerly. Müller rolled her eyes.

An amused twinkle hushed across Dumbledores eyes. "That is kind of you, Ms Precious, but I have assigned that to be Ms Müllers task. She will be working alongside of Mr Chevalier who is also a Slytherin serving detention." He looked at Müller. "You will be expected tomorrow afternoon in Class 99."

The redhead nodded and it was obvious that she was hiding a grin. 

"Yes well, I must get along. Professor," Fillman looked at the two friends and gave them a small smile. "I will see you tomorrow."

Now that he, too, had left the room, Dumbledore continued, "As for you Ms Precious, you will be patrolling the corridors with the prefects for the whole of next week. I am taking in consideration that the two of you are new to this school, which is why I informed Mr Riddle of this, so that you can patrol with someone you are already familiar with. He will ensure that you do not get lost."

The professor shared a knowing look with them and Loey just nodded. Great, now she would have to spend even more alone time with that prick. Then again, what else had she expected from this entire mission?

After this, Dumbledore dismissed the two friends and they went to the Ravenclaw common room. They never heard Mr Blackwood speak.

***

As soon as they got past the riddle of the Ravenclaws entrance door, Müller and Loey saw their two other friends sitting in the common room. Sarah and Ricky immediately jumped up and rushed towards them.

Ricky bombarded them with questions. "What happened? Where were you? We waited in that room for ages!"

Loey put her hands down in a shushing motion and nodded into the direction of the sofa. Ricky followed her gaze and saw three Ravenclaws sitting there and understood. A Ravenclaw with long, dark brown hair was regarding them curiously from behind her silver, circular glasses. Loey felt as though she knew her face from somewhere, but dismissed it right away, thinking that her imagination was playing tricks on her.

"Did you manage to open the room? We could go there and tell you everything," replied Müller in a low voice. 

Sarah grinned. "Yes, we did. It was awesome, you should have seen the explosion!" Her smile faded and worry-wrinkles appeared on her forehead. "Don't ask me to do that again, though. It was nerve wrecking." 

"We almost got caught by some Hufflepuff, but I used Obliviate on him," mentioned Ricky.

Loey snorted. "Good job."

It was convenient that their secret room was not too far away from the Ravenclaw tower, though the four friends had to be careful before entering. The fourth floor was not as stuffed as others, but still rather busy. Loey and Sarah both hid behind stone pillars whereas Ricky and Müller just leaned against the wall, trying to seem as unsuspicious as possible. Each one went in singularly at every opportunity they got. After 15 minutes, all the four friends were standing in their new headquarters, surrounded by darkness.

Neither the passage behind the mirror nor the room that followed afterwards had been used for a long time, which became clear to Loey as she stood in the room fully covered in cobwebs and coughing her soul out from all of the dust that had filled her lungs. 

"Ew, I hate spiders," grumbled Ricky, trying to shake off the cobwebs from her hands after having tried to wipe them off.

Loey took out her wand and casted lumos maximus. A veil of blue light flowed out of the tip of her wand and flew towards the ceiling where it turned into a blue globe. The light chased the shadows away, making the furniture seem as though it was emerging from the ground.

Her friends groaned in pain and covered the eyes. 

"Dude, give us a warning," complained Ricky. 

Sarah was still squinting. "Ow, my eyes."

"Sorry!"

Loey put her platinum blonde hair behind her ears, so that she could get a good look at the sight before her. She gasped. 

The room was filled with rich furniture that looked as though it should have been in a mansion with people that wore pearls and talked about their meaningless wealth moving around it. Instead, it was covered in a thick layer of dust, hidden in the depths of Hogwarts. Loey grinned. 

"whoa," breathed Müller, turning her head to take in as much sight as possible, "I wonder what happened to all of this. I mean, it definitely wasn't there in our time or won't be there in our time."

Ricky shrugged. "There is a lot of time between now and our time. Maybe someone found it and got sold it."

That thought made Loey sad. How could someone want to give away all of this? Each piece of dark wood looked as though it had seen a million faces and knew a million stories. 

Müller was inspecting the room curiously, wiping off dust from different pieces of furniture with her sleeve whenever she passed something that seemed interesting. She picked up an old mirror.

"This thing has to be ages old. We have to be careful not to break anything." Sarah was bending her neck to look at a giant clock that was hanging on the wall opposite of them. 

A loud crash echoed through the room, making Loey flinch. She spun around to look at the source of the sound and her gaze landed on Müller who was eyeing the shards of a broken mirror by her feet. 

The redhead grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Sarah laughed nervously, while Loey just shook her head in disapproval. Ricky laughed.

"Hey guys can you come here for a second?" Loey was standing by a large wooden table in the centre of the room.

They all gathered around her.

Loey took out her wand. "Let's clean everything up and turn on a proper light first, shall we?"

Without further ado, she casted two spells that caused the dust to be lifted off every surface and one that made flames erupt from the chandeliers that were spread out across the walls. Ricky shot a small flame towards the empty fireplace, which quickly caught fire. The flickering flames were reflected in the crimson wood of the furniture and the room was lulled in an orange light.

Müller and Loey proceeded to tell their friends about the weird teachers they had just met and the brilliant detention plan Dumbledore had come up with. 

"Are you sure that the detention with Riddle is a good idea, Loey? I don't think it's smart for any of us to be alone with him too much," asked Sarah. 

Loey smiled painfully. "I don't have much of a choice, do I? But I think I can handle it."

"Tell us if there is anything we can do to help you, okay?" Sarah's concern was obvious. Generally, Loey noticed how tired she looked. Her blue eyes that had once made Loey think of the sky now reminded her of ocean waves being clashed against the shore by a raging storm. 

Loey smiled. "I will. Thank you. I mean it."

Müller squared her shoulders. "Anyway, we need to come up with a strategy."

"I agree." Loey made a large piece of paper appear on the round table and then looked at Sarah. "Can you illustrate what I'm saying as I go along?"

Sarah nodded.

Loey tucked her hair behind her ears, but a shadow hung over her face nevertheless.

"As far as I have gathered, there are seven members in Riddles gang. Since we haven't had any lessons yet, it's been difficult for me to figure out all of their names, but I've overheard a few. "

"We have Nate Chevalier, Abraxas Malfoy, Edmund Lestrange," as Loey was listing the names of future Death Eaters, Sarah made little drawings of their faces appear on the paper, "and I think that the others are Rosier, Mulciby and something like Nutt? I'm not sure. We definitely need to figure that out."

Ricky snorted. "Deez Nutt."

"Malfoy? Ugh please dont tell me hes Dracos grandfather or something like that. I hate that prat," groaned Müller.

"Draco is not that bad, he can be kind of nice," protested Ricky.

Loey shrugged. "Anyway, I think that the smartest way to get to Riddle would be to dismantle his crew one by one. I suggest that Müller takes on Chevalier as she already has to do detention with him."

She cast a glance at her redheaded friend to see if she would be willing to do so. Müller nodded. 

"And Ricky, I think it's best if you take care of Malfoy, since you already had an encounter with him and sort of get along with his grandson? Im not sure."

Ricky grinned. "That's fine, he's hotter than Draco."

Müller looked as though she was about to vomit and Sarah patted her shoulder, bellowing with laughter. 

Loey smiled. "Sarah, I dont really have a plan for which one you could try to befriend and then heartlessly betray, but- and I cannot believe Im saying this, considering who his relation is - Lestrange seems like he is the nicest one out of the lot."

The short blonde put her fists on her hips in mock offense. "Do you not think I can take it?! "

"No, no, I do," Loey replied hastily, her face turning deep red, "I just wanted to ease your mind a bit. Sorry."

Sarah laughed. "It's fine. Im joking. Give me Lestrange."

Loey smiled in relief, but as soon as it had appeared, her smile was chased off by the thought of what she was about to say next. 

"And I think that I should... ehm..." Her face suddenly felt as if it was freezing and boiling at the same time, but to the others she just looked pale. Loey squeezed her eyes shut. "I think that I should take care of Riddle. Everything or everyone seems to be putting us together."

Her friends had already known from the beginning that the conversation would lead to this, but that did not mean they would accept it. 

Müllers face hardened. "No."

"Amelie, its the most logical way and you know it." Though her brown eyes held nothing but softness, her voice remained firm.

Her ginger friend shook her head. "No. Youre not doing this. Even Dumbledore said not to underestimate Riddle. Its dangerous and stupid to take him on by yourself."

"I agree," croaked Sarah, "I do not think this is a good idea, Loey."

Loey sighed. "I know, I know. You are right. But the thing is that I have the best opportunities to get to him and we do not know if we can get another shot at this without raising suspicion. I will do this. You cant stop me, but I wont do it all by myself. None of us will, okay? Were not Gryffindors going on solo missions, we are all doing this together, but we distribute the work."

"Man, I know that were not Gryffindors, but its still risky to be alone with him," Ricky pointed out and leant back in her seat.

The expression in Müllers eyes was hard as her gaze held Loeys who felt as though she was about to be turned into stone. "Fine, but we will talk about everything before and afterwards. You will not put yourself in unnecessary danger."

"Guys, are we sure about this?: interjected Sarah. "He could do god knows what to Loey."

Ricky shrugged. "I mean, Loey can probably handle herself. Its still risky, though."

"Guys, you know that its our best shot," pleaded Loey.

Sarah took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. "Alright, but be careful. Please."

"I promise."

The four friends spent the rest of the afternoon planning their next few moves carefully. No one would ever be truly alone thanks to their legilimency and some simple spells. They came up with code-words and ways to keep their headquarters a secret. 

Whispering a simple spell, Ricky pushed the mirror in front of the door whilst the other ones acted as lookouts. It was the same spell the founders had used to enchant the entrances to the common rooms, which made it impossible for people to see the door without telling the password (socks) to the mirror.

The moonlight of the full moon was the only thing that brought light into the lonely hallways of the fourth floor. Though her senses should have been on high alert, the cold light filled Loeys chest with longing and her mind drifted off to other worlds. Subconsciously, she trusted her friends to be more careful than she was as they navigated their way through the glim castle.

Elena?" Sarah calling out in surprise made Loey snap back to reality.

Emerging from the shadows, a colourful, chubby cat approached Sarah and slithered around her legs whilst purring. Loey furrowed her eyebrows. How could that be?

Sarah leaned down to pet her. "Elena, how did you get here?"

Elena chose not to answer, instead she threw herself onto the floor for Sarah to pet her more thoroughly.

"This is impossible," whispered Müller. 

Ricky shrugged and bent over to pet Sarahs cat as well. "Maybe someone sent her."

Before Loey could reply, a small meow coming from a deserted classroom made her jump up. Ricky and Loey followed the noise and as they opened the door, they were greeted by a sight none of them could explain. 

All of their cats, Maunz, Caruso, and Loki were walking around the room and seemed just as confused as their owners.

"Loki!" exclaimed Loey happily and the small tabby rushed towards her, meowing. 

Müller was smiling but shook her head. "How?"

"Hold on," said Loey as she picked up Loki, "isn't this the classroom in which the time machine used to be... or will be in?"

Ricky scratching Caruso's chin whose black fur blended in with the darkness. "Yeah, but cats can't just time travel."

"Well, they just did." Müller stroking over Maunz's ginger fur.

Since none of them found a satisfying explanation, they just took their cats and went to their dormitories. Sarah fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow with Elena lying next to her. 

As always, Loey struggled to let sleep take her. She pulled the covers close and tried her best not to disturb Loki. Her mind was so crowded. Loey squeezed her eyes shut and started grabbing fistfuls of her hair. Why did her thoughts never shut up? Everything was always so loud, even when it was quiet. 

Her body twisted and turned throughout yet another sleepless night. 


End file.
